A Table of Contents can be viewed by scrolling to the end of this page.

Where to Get the Book, Read Excerpts and Reviews

The paperback edition of
Exoplanets and Alien Solar Systems is available at numerous
online retailers and can also be ordered at your local bookshop or
library. In particular, it is available from Amazon sites:
USUKCanada (and others).

For space enthusiasts outside of the US and Europe, the most cost-effective
place to get the book is probably the book depository because shipping is free worldwide. The book is also available from Barnes and Noble, in both paperback and Nook format. You don't need a Nook to read the Nook eBook because you can get a free Nook reading app for a number of devices, including your computer.

Exoplanets and Alien Solar Systems is also available as an eBook in
Kindle

Table of Contents:

Chapter 1: Stepping Out
-Connecting with a Conversation Through History
-Exoplanets Reveal Themselves
-Jupiter's Compelling Attraction

Chapter 2: A Sketch of the New Science
-Chapter Overview
-Near and Far
-Solar System Overview
-Why Are Some Objects Known As "Candidate" Planets?
-How Many Exoplanets and Alien Solar Systems Have Been Found?
-Why Don't Exoplanets Have Names?
-What Do We Want to Know About Exoplanets and Why?
-How Far Away Are the Discovered Planets?
-How Many Alien Moons Have Been Discovered?
-Are There Exoplanets That Are Not Associated with a Star?
-How Can I Get the Latest Updates on Exoplanets and Alien Solar Systems?

Chapter 5: Where Is Everyone?
-What Is Life?
-The Origin of Life
-Challenges for the Origin of Life on Earth
-Chemistry for Life: What's the Deal with Arsenic?
-Water In the Moon
-The Problem of Volatile Delivery
-Exoplanet Climatology and Habitable Zones
-The Host Star, Tidal Locking, and System Stability
-Temperature and Albedo
-Exoplanet Atmospheres
-Climate Solutions
-The Faint Young Sun Problem
-Circumstellar Habitable Zone
-Galactic Habitable Zone
-Is There a New Answer to the Old Question?
-How Long Would it Take to Get to the Nearest Exoplanet?
-Ant School

Appendix A: What Is a Planet?Appendix B: Selected WebsitesNotes

Synopsis

There is a quiet revolution going on. An unprecedented number of planets outside of our solar system (exoplanets, or extrasolar planets) have been found, with an explosion in the number of discoveries in recent years. The collective human consciousness has arrived at a place that was inaccessible not long ago. Once upon a time, humanity had not even conceived questions such as, "Are there planets beyond our solar system?" or "Is there intelligent life on other planets?" Find out what has been happening in this rapidly advancing arena of human exploration, what these extrasolar planets are like, and why some traditional ideas face being thrown out. Get up to speed on the new science with "Exoplanets and Alien Solar Systems." The book is aimed at the layperson, offering translations of astrophysics into plain language, yet it has enough depth in annotated reference notes to the original scientific literature that it will also be useful for those with a greater science background, including teachers and professional scientists. The book will help educators to begin to incorporate the study of extrasolar planets into the curriculum at all academic levels. It is being said by experts in the field that astronomy books will have to be rewritten because of new and unexpected discoveries about the alien worlds. The rewriting has already begun with "Exoplanets and Alien Solar Systems." In particular, the book addresses the problems faced by current planet formation and migration theories head on instead of marginalizing the difficulties, and discusses some new lines of investigation.